Organize a healthy food drive to donate to the local food pantry or church.

Check out Let’s Move!is a comprehensive initiative, launched by the First Lady Michelle Obama, dedicated to solving the problem of obesity within a generation, so that children born today will grow up healthier and able to pursue their dreams.

Kids Sports League. This Maryland group helped local people start youth sports leagues. The idea would be a good model for any group that wanted to do the same. www.kidssportsleague.com/

Start a junior Olympic program. Type “USA Junior Olympic programs” into a search engine to find a wide variety of links to various junior Olympic sports. Junior Olympic programs are eligible for various helpful resources, including grants and events kids can attend.

Healthy Kids Hub. This is a great collection of activities, information and material sources. A project of Healthy Kids Out of School, sponsored by a wide variety of organizations dedicated to checking child obesity. Check it out! Watch the video to get started.

The Kids Run the Nation Program is an inclusive, multi-week, turnkey, youth running program designed to meet the physical activity goals outlined by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for children in grades kindergarten through sixth grade.

If you’d like to help create opportunities for parents and kids to exercise together:

Pull together people from agencies and churches to brainstorm: Create a family volleyball or Frisbee league. Have a family jump rope competition. If you have a healthy lifestyle coalition, it’s a lot easier to have this conversation on an ongoing basis.

Try the Meetup site to start your own Parents and Kids exercise groups

Healthy Kids Hub. This is a terrific collection of activities, information and material sources for afterschool programs. A project of Healthy Kids Out of School, sponsored by a wide variety of organizations dedicated to checking child obesity. Check it out! Watch the video to get started.